Blu-ray Review: Evil Dead 2

The Evil Dead hit cinema like a glorious bomb of blood, gore, shocks and twisted comedy. Sam Raimi then decided to double down and make Evil Dead 2. It built on the first film and brought us the continuing adventures of Ash Williams, played by the brilliant Bruce Campbell.

Out of the first two films, it has always been Evil Dead 2 for me. It just works so well. From the horror of the Deadites and Ash’s realisation of what has been unleashed it just keeps building into a spectacular horror film full of gore, slapstick and evil possessed hands.

Other characters show up to be dispatched in various ways, but this is Campbell’s time to shine and Ash Williams is still one of the greatest horror movie characters out there. An everyman, an idiot and a true hero all wrapped up in a groovy blue shirt! I am still sad that there will be no more Ash vs Evil Dead.

Sam Raimi refined his style with this one. From the iconic POV shot of whatever it is that flies through the woods, to the dutch angles and smash cuts in and around the cabin, it just oozes Raimi’s vision and the gallons of blood are just the icing on the gore-soaked cake!

This new version of the film looks and sounds spectacular. A lot of care has gone into the new remaster. The image is incredibly sharp and the details of the cabin, woods and the clothing of the characters is fantastic. Sometimes this kind of high definition can make the effects and makeup look dated in older films, but everything holds up extremely well. Black levels are deep and rich, while the brightness and contrast throughout work extremely well. The colours are beautiful and accentuate all the blood.

The new release also comes with over four hours of special features, including the new one-hour bonus feature Bloody and Groovy, Baby! which is great to watch. I am looking forward to rewatching the film with the commentary by Sam Raimi, Scott Spiegel, Bruce Campbell and Greg Nicotero.

If you are a fan of Evil Dead 2 then I can highly recommend you pick up this new release.

RELEASING ON 4K ULTRA HD FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND ON BLU-RAY™, DVD & DIGITAL DOWNLOAD 4TH MARCH 2019